MASSIVE OBESITY IN A MIGRANT SAMOAN POPULATION

Peoples of the Pacific Islands tend to become overweight when they migrate or are exposed to modernization in situ. Recent evidence suggests that Samoans are particularly susceptible, exhibiting a high prevalence of obesity and hypertension following migration to Hawaii, USA. The preliminary results of a survey of height, weight, blood pressure and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) among an urbanized Samoan community in the San Francisco Bay Area USA are reported. Although the participants'' average height fell between the 25th and 50th percentile of the USA population, about 1/2 of the sample exceeded the 95th percentile for weight. The extreme overweight was accompanied by elevated blood pressure and, in females, by elevated FPG. The massive adult weight of migrants from the Pacific Islands carries serious public health implications for areas that support large migrant comminities.